In a ceremony held Monday in the packed gymnasium of the Booker T. Washington High School, the Rev. Jesse Jackson presented 24 Rainbow Coalition PUSH for Excellence Academic Scholarships, with 12 going to undergraduate students at Alabama State University and 12 to Tuskegee University students. 

The scholarships -- valued at $1,000 each – were personally awarded by Jackson, who said they were designed to help deserving students on each school’s campus who need assistance to help them defray college expenses and whose stellar academic records reflect that they are striving for educational excellence.

“These students receiving scholarships here today are the future of our community and this nation,” Jackson said, “and the scholarships they are receiving are not merely a way to help them make end’s meet in college, but are an investment in America.”

The 12 ASU scholarship recipients are Brittany Hardie, Norbert Sullivan, Melvin Bridges, Charaiecella Hamilton, Jimika Davis, Abdou Nijie, Victoria West, Kevin Bonner, Kenneth Ballard, Ashley Hawkins, Kenya Davison and Devin Spann.

Bridges, an ASU senior majoring in mathematics, said the awards ceremony was a day that he will never forget.

“It’s a real honor and blessing for me to receive a scholarship from the Rev. Jackson and a shock because it came out of nowhere,” Bridges said.

The Racine, Wis., native said the honor is just another example of how attending Alabama State has changed his life for the better.

“This week a historic figure (Jesse Jackson) awards me an academic honor and next week I travel with our STEM faculty members to a scientific meeting in Washington, D.C.,” Bridges said, “and it is all because I am a student at ASU, which has helped me better myself through caring faculty members who teach and nurture us for greatness.”

Montgomery native Kenya Davison, a secondary mathematics education major, said she felt the award was an unexpected blessing.

“I really needed some financial assistance right now to help me with some of my college expenses, and Rev. Jackson’s scholarship came at the right time to help me at Alabama State,” Davison said.

“I love my University and all it has done to help me better my future,” the junior said.